And Taylor believes that has given the British number one a wonderful opportunity to become the first home winner at the All-England Club in 65 years.

‘‘I think with Sampras out I would feel this is his best opportunity,’’ said Taylor, who reached the semi-finals here in 1973, the last Briton to do so before Henman in 1998.

‘‘Sampras was always going to be tough to beat for him from a psychological point of view. He has been champion for so long and maybe it needed a new guy like Federer to beat him for Tim.

‘‘Now it’s up to Tim to take advantage of that.’’

Henman is only too well aware of the chance he has and admitted thinking of that had contributed to his poor display on Monday night against Todd Martin in the opening three sets.

But he was quick to dismiss suggestions that he would have things easy in the last eight.

‘‘It’s a hell of a result for Federer to beat Sampras with the Sampras record that we all know and understand,’’ said the 26-year-old sixth seed. ‘‘So if he’s just beaten him he’s obviously playing pretty well. I’ve never beaten Sampras on grass.

‘‘I’d be stupid to think this is going to be some type of easy match for me because he’s probably playing as well, if not better, than anyone else.

‘‘I don’t think you can speak enough about his game, his ability. He’s certainly a great shot-maker who can play on any surface, can play any style of play. It’s not going to be easy but I’ve beaten him twice before.

‘‘Again it will probably boil down to who plays best on the day. Hopefully if I can get the crowd fired up and get them behind me then that will put a little extra pressure on him.’’

Henman’s match is second on Centre Court following the quarter-final between Marat Safin and Goran Ivanisevic, two of the most volatile players in world tennis.

‘‘It’s going to be a tough, interesting match,’’ said Ivanisevic, who beat Britain’s Greg Rusedski in the fourth round.

‘‘He is a great player, he is the one I like on the tour. Unpredictable. He can play great tennis, can play bad tennis, something like me. Hopefully it’s going to be this bad Safin on Wednesday who’s playing.

‘‘But he has improved a lot on grass. I saw him at Queen’s start to serve and volley. But I’m looking forward to the match, it’s a great opportunity for me to go even further.

‘‘He has enough time to do well in Wimbledon. He should give it to me this time.’’

Safin looks in no mood to grant any favours, however, as he showed in demolishing fourth-round opponent Arnaud Clement 6-0 6-3 6-2.

‘‘It’s very tough because Goran is playing great,’’ the fourth seed said. ‘‘He’s serving very good. But I can also play tennis you know.

‘‘It’s not going to be only one player on the court. I’ll be there for each moment of the match. I’ll be there and I’ll try to break him. All respect to Goran but I also want to be in the semi-final.

‘‘It depends on many things. Mental things, how you prepared, who is more patient on the court, who is more lucky, all the small things that make big differences. One or two points will probably decide the match.’’

With defending champion Sampras out of the equation, Andre Agassi is the favourite for overall victory and he has not dropped a set in reaching the last eight.

‘‘I just want to make sure I’m executing my game and getting better as the tournament goes on,’’ said the number two seed, who faces surprise package Nicolas Escude after the Frenchman’s shock win over Lleyton Hewitt.

‘‘So far I’ve managed to do that. Those are all good signs. But you have to go out there and win a Slam like this, you have to step your game up big at the right time. Certainly I’ll have that opportunity being in the quarters.

‘‘I think going into the quarters I feel better about my game this year than last. It’s not easy to do but I think with 85 baseliners in the draw there’s a chance for a baseliner to do it again.’’

A repeat of last year’s semi-final between Agassi and Pat Rafter is still on the cards, with Rafter facing Sweden’s Thomas Enqvist in the first match on Court One.

Enqvist has slipped almost unnoticed through the draw and has yet to face a really tough test, but like Agassi he has yet to drop a set and made light work of Guillermo Canas in the fourth round, the Argentinian having beaten seventh seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the previous round.

Rafter, the number three seed, has not been at his best so far but recovered well from losing the first set against Mikhail Youzhny on Monday in a four-set win.